THE LAWYERS WEEKLY
March 19, 2010 | 23
BUSINESS
CAREERS
What to do when
a reporter calls
JORDAN
FURLONG
Everyone tends to be a little cautious
when a reporter calls, but lawyers especially so. Most of us are sufficiently risk-averse that we’d rather say little or nothing to a journalist than say too much, so
that what we do say often comes across as
sterile and distant. Unfortunately, this
means that lawyer interviews rarely make
good reads — flip through this issue of The
Lawyers Weekly and you’ll likely find
examples of what I mean.
More unfortunately, however, our caution is often justified. I’ve seen a growing
number of instances lately of undertrained reporters getting a lawyer’s story
partly or even completely wrong, leaving
the lawyer feeling burned as a result. Both
the mainstream and the trade media have
experienced a tough financial environment recently, and one of the effects of
budget constraints is the use of journalists who aren’t as well trained or accurate
as they need to be.
It’s a tough balance for lawyers to
strike, but it is possible to be both a careful interviewee and an engaging one.
Here are some guidelines to assist you in
both respects.
Proceed with caution
When a reporter calls asking for an
interview, there are two things you need
to ask about and two things you should
require. Ask for the reporter’s deadline,
which you’ll get immediately, and for at
least 24 hours’ lead time, which you’ll
probably get unless it’s a daily news service or the deadline is imminent, in which
case you should ask for at least an hour or
two. The important thing is not to dive
into the interview right off the bat—you
LEFT PHOTO BY DEAN MITCHELL, RIGHT PHOTO BY NYUL, BOTH DREAMSTIME.COM
Lawyers should
be cautiously
conversational
when reporters
call them for
an interview
for an article.
need time to clear your
mind and prepare.
The second thing to require is a promise
that you can see your quotations before the
article is published. Don’t ask to see the
article itself—invariably the answer will be
no, and rightly so — but it’s fair to check that
you’ve been quoted correctly. Some journal-
ists will take offence at this request, but I’ve
seen too many lawyers misquoted or mis-
construed recently to advise otherwise.
Unless you know and trust the journalist,
make sure you have the right to review the
words ascribed to you.
The two things you
should require might be
more controversial. The
first is the journalist’s
questions in advance.
Prepare with flair
Some will resist this
request, but you should stand firm and
remind the reporter that you’ll be able to
give much better, more concise and more
informative responses if you’ve read the
questions beforehand. A reporter who
insists on keeping the questions a secret is,
to my mind, waving a red flag. At the very
least, you should get an outline of the arti-
cle’s topics and objectives.
Once you have the questions or an outline of what the reporter will cover, take
some time to write out your responses and
develop a kind of script to work from. It
should be short, direct and concise, saying
what needs to be said and no more (as any
cross-examiner will tell you, people who
can’t stop talking eventually say something
they shouldn’t). And it should be lively: prepare your responses as if you were speaking
normally, not as if you were addressing a
judge or drafting a factum. If it helps, dictate what you’d say and have it transcribed,
then adjust the transcript.
When drafting your responses, think
about how quotations are arranged in the
See Reporters Page 25
Develop a niche to get edge in legal marketplace
EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY
www.gov.nu.ca
IN CANADA'S NEWEST TERRITORY
MICHAEL RAPPAPORT OTTAWA
In nature a niche refers to how
an organism survives and thrives
in a particular ecosystem. Lawyers
who carve out a niche practice in
the marketplace, such as dental
malpractice or municipal zoning
law , can often find themselves at a
competitive advantage to full-service or general practice law firms.
In 1994, Joyce Weinman, who
trained as a dental hygienist
before attending law school,
founded Joyce Weinman, Barrister and Solicitor (now Weinman,
Arnold LLP) in Toronto, a boutique firm that specializes in dental malpractice.
Seven years ago, after working
at McCarthy Tétrault LLP for
nearly 30 years Dennis Wood, a
partner at the firm and founder of
its municipal law group, and Mary
Bull a colleague in his practice
group, decided to launch a boutique law firm, Wood Bull LLP,
which specializes in municipal,
planning and development law. In
2003 the firm opened in an office
overlooking Toronto’s city hall.
Expertise is essential
For lawyers considering
developing a niche practice hav-
ing experience in the niche area is
essential. “You can’t just leap into
a sector without prior knowledge,”
cautions Paul Kuttner, a regular
contributor to The Lawyers
Weekly and the principal of innov-
ate! Marketing, a firm that assists
law firms with business develop-
ment. Kuttner has assisted many
lawyers in and around Toronto
starting their own boutique law
firms, many of which are focused
on niche areas, such as municipal
law firm Wood Bull, as well as
Dykeman Dewhirst O’Brien LLP,
which specializes in health law.
The scope of niche market
Beyond having expertise in the
niche field, it is important to take
a hard look at the niche market
before entering it. Kuttner undertakes a threefold market analysis
before recommending that lawyers open a niche practice.
First he examines the size and
scope of the niche market. “You
have to coldly assess the commer-
cial opportunity under a financial
microscope,” Kuttner says. “You
can’t be swayed by emotions. If
the niche is an emerging market
such as sustainable energy law,
you have to ask whether it has real
potential or is just a fad.”
Too tiny a niche may not be
able to support a practice. Legal
publisher Butterworths (owned
by LexisNexis Canada, which
publishes The Lawyers Weekly),
considered publishing a book on
dental law, but was deterred
when they could only find six
lawyers who practised dental law
exclusively in Canada.
In the early years of her prac-
tice, Weinman had to broaden
the scope of her practice and she
See Niche Page 26
Priority Hiring
The Government of Nunavut wants to create a more
representative workforce, so that it can better understand
and serve the needs of Nunavummiut. Priority will be given to
Nunavut ;and ;laims ;ene;ciaries.
Director, Legislation
DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE IQALUIT, NUNAVUT
Salary is in accordance with the Senior Management Salary Grid.
Nunavut Northern Allowance: $14,289 per annum.
Ref. #: 05-100296
Closing: April 9, 2010
Apply to: Department of Human Resources
Government of Nunavut
P.O. Box 1000, Station 430
Iqaluit, Nunavut X0A 0H0
Fax: ;; 6;; 9;5-6220 ; E-mail: gn;r; gov.nu.ca
P;one: ;; 6;; 9;5-6222 ; Toll-free: 1-;;;-66;-9993
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www.gov.nu.ca
